 |
 |
 |
Some of the desired information for this battalion is missing and we're attempting to obtain it through the contact listed below. If you can help supply any information, please let us know. Send e-mail to the Webmaster, or postal mail to Rodney Young, 251 Pine Mdw, Spring Branch, TX 78070. Thank you very much.
Shoulder patches: The men of the 91st wore the shoulder patch shown above. The Patch Page displays all the patches we have been able to obtain of this and other chemical mortar battalions.
Code name: High Dawn
Association: 91st Chemical Mortar Bn
Membership:
Reunions: Our 54th consecutive reunion will be held in New Hampshire in September, exact place and date to be determined later.
Contact: Kenneth Goosman (1925-2006), Moundsville WV
Newsletter
Memorial: The Battalion had placed a memorial monument to its men at Fort McClellan, Alabama. The Army closed that post on September 15, 1999, and all six (2nd, 3rd, 81st, 83rd, 86th, 91st) chemical mortar battalion monuments were moved to Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri, along with other Chemical Corps monuments including that of the 1st Gas Regiment. The monuments are now emplaced in a Memorial Park at Leonard Wood near the Chemical Corps Museum there. See photos of all memorial monuments at FLW.
Activated 15 Feb 1944 as 91st Chemical Bn Motorized at Camp Joseph T. Robinson
Training:
4 Apr 1944 - 2 Oct 1944 Cp. Swift, TX
Redesignated 22 Feb 1945 as 91st Chemical Mortar Bn
Inactivated 1 Feb 1949 at Army Chemical Center, MD. Its men and equipment were transferred to the 2nd Chemical Mortar Bn, activated there the same day.
Overseas: Arrived BPE 11 Oct 1944, England 19 Oct 1944, France-ETO 21 Oct 1944
Campaigns: Ardennes-Alsace, Central Europe, Rhineland
Number of men killed in action: 15
Number of men wounded in action: 34
Number of days in combat: 117
Number of rounds fired: 68,789
History of the 91st Cml Mortar Bn
Memos of the Mortarmen - 91CMB 2nd Plt (PDF version)
The Mortars of High Dawn, by Ken Goosman, 91st Cml Mortar Bn
A Tribute to Those of Us Who Gave Their All
Our unit, the 91st Chemical Mortar Battalion, code-named High Dawn, was a member of XII Corps, the spearhead of Patton's Third Army. The relentless thrust of XII Corps carried our battalion through three major campaigns: Rhineland, Ardennes-Alsace, and Central Europe.It was during the Battle of the Bulge that our 4.2-inch mortars gained a lasting respect from our infantry. We were shoved into a violent world of both bitter combat and bitter cold. It was a time when hearing the soft-spoken words of our prayer, "God help us to help the infantry," was never more prevalent.The close-supporting fire power of our mortars, be it preparatory fire on our entering a German-held town, hiding our infantry behind smoke screens at a river crossing, blowing out mines and barbed wire, or the night-time harassing fire we used to wear down our enemy, all of this helped to lighten the heavy burden of our infantry.Few of us ever thought of ourselves as heroes. But, while we were enduring 117 days of continuous day-and-night combat, we did have the privilege to fight at the side of a few who were.
